Projo.com - Chafee Promises More Government Services Online

Press Release

By Mark Reynolds

The state needs to modernize its information technologies to make government more transparent and efficient and make government services easier to use, Lincoln Chafee announced Sunday in a campaign statement.

The independent candidate for governor proposed an upgrade to the state government's website -- RI.gov.

If Chafee is elected, he said residents would be able to schedule DMV appointments online and renew their drivers' licenses online, Chafee said in a news release.

The site would gain new content, including "clear information" about Rhode Island's tax policy and the performance of government programs, Chafee said.

He would make those changes through executive order, he said.

He also called for shining a light on the way the state acquires goods and services.

He promised to bring more openness to the procurement process by offering citizens a way to submit, comment on, and vote on ideas for making Rhode Island's procurement process more effective.

"I will put an end to hurried "end of year" procurements, which have higher costs and inadequate competition, and build a repository to share market research across government, in order to eliminate the existing duplication of the same research efforts," Chafee's news release says.

Chafee also proposed the use of GovLoop, a social network site for government employees that he said will allow "Rhode Island to learn from existing solutions and share best practices, both externally and internally."

Finally, his news release called for the use of SeeClickFix -- a free mobile phone and web application that lets citizens identify non-emergency issues in their neighborhoods and report them to the government.

"As part of announcing my Open Government platform," Chafee said, "my campaign will organize a SeeClickFix Storm, whereby we ask our supporters to spend a weekend logging local issues on SeeClickFix. Citizens will be helping us help them, and participating in the work of government in a meaningful way."

"My Open Government platform represents a symbolic shift towards freeing ourselves from the old, opaque politics that have crippled our state's economy," Chafee said.

"Together, with openness, transparency, and accountability, we can forge a new way forward for Rhode Island."

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